EU Needs 'Independent SWIFT' to Protect Firms From US Sanctions - German Foreign Minister
Europe needs to boost its autonomy by setting up payment systems independent from the United States and develop its own equivalent of the SWIFT system to shield its companies from US sanctions against Iran, German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said Tuesday in an op-ed for Handelsblatt newspaper.
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 21st August, 2018) Europe needs to boost its autonomy by setting up payment systems independent from the United States and develop its own equivalent of the SWIFT system to shield its companies from US sanctions against Iran, German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said Tuesday in an op-ed for Handelsblatt newspaper.
In May, Washington said it would leave the Iran nuclear deal and reinstate sanctions on Tehran.
"It was right to legally protect European companies from sanctions. That is why it is essential that we boost European autonomy by setting up payment channels independent from the United States, by making a European Monetary Fund and building an independent SWIFT system," Maas wrote.
The German foreign minister stressed that Europe considered the withdrawal from the nuclear deal with Iran a mistake, but was ready to work with the United States.